“Armenia has elections coming, and what can we do to help them? They have asked [for] similar help to fight foreign malign interference, like [what] we granted to Moldova,” Kallas said just before she and the foreign ministers of EU member states met with their Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Brussels.
She gave no further details of that discussion. An EU statement released beforehand described it as an “informal exchange over breakfast” that will precede a session of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
Mirzoyan said nothing about the pre-election EU support sought by Yerevan when he spoke to journalists after the meeting. He said he discussed with the European officials “all major achievements in Armenia-EU partnership” as well as “hybrid threats” facing Armenia and the 27-nation bloc.
“During the discussion, EU member states expressed support for Armenia's democratic development, strengthening its resilience as well as countering hybrid threats,” read a separate statement released by the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
Mirzoyan already visited Brussels two weeks ago to adopt with Kallas a new “strategic agenda” for deepening Armenia’s ties with the EU. Kallas announced after those talks that the EU will give Armenia 15 million euros ($17.4 million) in additional aid part of which will be spent on countering what she called “disinformation” spread by Russia.
Although Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other Armenian officials have not publicly accused Moscow of such interference, their request for election-related assistance revealed by Kallas suggests that they agree with the EU claims.
Some Armenian opposition figures and other critics of Pashinian say that the EU itself is interfering in the forthcoming elections in an effort to help the ruling Civil Contract party win them. Garnik Danielian, a parliament deputy from the main opposition Hayastan alliance, claimed on Monday that Pashinian’s government will use the fresh EU funding for smear campaigns against opposition forces in the run-up to the showdown vote due in June.
“Anyone who opposes these authorities is branded a Russian spy,” Danielian told journalists in Yerevan.
He singled out Kallas’s reference to Moldova where two opposition parties deemed pro-Russian were barred from participating in a recent parliamentary election won by the country’s pro-Western leadership. The EU repeatedly alleged Russian interference in the Moldovan elections, prompting strong denials from Moscow. Danielian said he fears a repeat of “the same scenario” in Armenia.
The Armenian opposition has for years accused the EU of turning a blind eye to government crackdowns on dissent and other human rights abuses in the South Caucasus nation for geopolitical reasons.
In the last few months alone, several dozen opposition activists and supporters as well as four senior clergymen critical of the Armenian government have been jailed on what they see as trumped-up charges. The government denies that they are political prisoners. For their part, EU officials have continued to praise Yerevan for its “democratic reforms.”
Pashinian’s administration has been trying to reorient Armenia towards the West. Earlier this year, it enacted a law declaring the “start of a process of Armenia's accession to the European Union.” Russian officials have repeatedly warned Yerevan of severe economic consequences of an EU membership bid. They have at the same time downplayed the Russian-Armenian tensions.